Des Moines Police May Be On Verge of Breaking Case of Unsolved Homicide Thanks to Tipster

"It could be a huge break in the case," said Sergeant Paul Parizek. Police may be on their way to solving this case; the homicide of 59-year-old Dennis Strable. "The thing about these cases is that we know that as we`re putting these puzzles together, you know, we might come up a piece short. We know there`s somebody out there that has that piece that will help us complete the picture and get the bad guy in jail and bring the families some closure."

It was approximately 4:33 a.m. on July 24th, when Strable was shot and killed while riding his bicycle at 45th and Kingman Boulevard; an otherwise nice and quiet neighborhood.

"I mean, that`s just kind of the nature of the beast...you`re living in Des Moines, it's not huge, but it`s a city. You`re gonna have isolated events," said neighborhood resident Damon Dotson.

"We had a block party just last week, you know, about a third of the neighborhood showed up. It`s a great neighborhood. We all get along. We all are on the internet together. We talk about what`s going on," said neighborhood resident Mike Delaney.

And those folks who live in the neighborhood say if anyone has any relevant information, they will give it to police.

"In a neighborhood like this where people own their homes and people probably know their neighbors to a greater or lesser degree, absolutely, I would think that people would be cooperative if somebody was shot and killed. I can`t imagine seeing it and not calling it in. I can`t imagine any of these people seeing it and not killing it in," said area resident Robert Hutchings.

But police say that's not always the case.

"It is this culture of nobody wants to be a snitch. They fear the retaliation," said Sgt. Parizek.

And because of that culture and fear, two other homicides also remain unsolved: the may 26 killing of 44-year-old Scott Allan Perez in the 4000 block of Crocker Avenue and the June 22 killing of 41-year-old Victor Robinson Jr. in the parking lot of 3720 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. "The Victor Robinson homicide is particularly frustrating for us because we`ve got probably more than 20 eyewitnesses, but they just won't cooperate," said Sgt. Parizek.